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MLB Pick: Houston Astros, New York Yankees ‘under’ 8

The Yankees were stunned by the Astros last night and New York could now be involved in a closer pitching duel than they would like when Hiroki Kuroda faces Phillip Humber. Go ‘under’.

It could be a lower scoring game than many people expect on Tuesday night when Phillip Humber and the Houston Astros (8-18, 4-10 away) pay a visit to Hiroki Kuroda and the New York Yankees (15-10, 9-5 home) in the second game of a three-game series from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY at 7:05 ET.

The Yanks now look to get back on track with Kuroda, who may have been the most consistent starter on the New York staff last season even with the presence of C.C. Sabathia, as he deserved better than a 16-11 record given his 3.32 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and fine ratio of 167 strikeouts compared to 51 walks. He then followed that up by going a perfect two for two in Quality Starts during the playoffs.

Kuroda has also been great in seven career starts vs. the Astros, going 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA and 0.99 WHIP while holding Houston batters to a scant .199 batting average. Yes, the Astros put up nine runs last night, but they may have used up their scoring quote for a while as Houston is batting only .227 vs. right-handed pitchers over the last 10 games while averaging a mere 2.82 runs per nine innings against them during that time.

However, he does return to the scene of one of the best performances of his career, other than that Perfect Game of course, as the last time Humber pitched in Yankee Stadium he tossed seven scoreless innings while allowing only one hit, and that was when the Yankees were fully healthy.

Now the Yankees have been winning, but they have not been hitting that well either as of late, which is understandable with so much firepower disabled right now. New York is averaging only 3.40 run per game over the last 10 contests overall while hitting just .219 vs. right-handed pitching during that time.

Thus, despite the positions of these teams in the standings, look for a tight pitching duel in the Bronx on Tuesday.